Miss Fancy Pants Designs

September Sketch Challenge Winner!

Hey everyone! We absolutely LOVED seeing all of your challenge creations on our Facebook page! We hope our sketch was a fun one to create from and we'll be sure to keep giving you more sketches in the future for more creative inspiration.

Our Pocket Chicks helped with the judging, and it was hard picking a winner (it always is with such talented fans like ours!), but we have came up with a winner. And the Fancy Pants Designs Prize Pack goes to...

All Star by Jenny Evans
Jenny's layout really caught our eye! We love the way she used our Little Sport collection in such a bold, striking way while keeping the attention on her great photo of her son.

Congrats, Jenny!! Please send an email to: [email protected] with the following information:

1. Name of Contest (September Sketch Challenge)
2. Your full name
3. Address where your prize should be sent

We also wanted to give a little shout out to these two talented designers, whose layouts we loved as well!

The Art of Good Conversation by Krissy Clark.

We loved Krissy's use of The Good Life collection, her fun little paper dolls and paint spatters. Check out more of Krissy's work on her blog.

New Do by Nicolle Grabowski Kramer
We love how Nicolle used It's The Little Things on her layout! Such beautiful details and layers!! Gorgeous! See more of Nicolle's work on her blog.

Thanks again to everyone who participated! We love our Fancy Fans!

-Amy Peterman

 

YouTube Tuesday: Stamping Into Craft Foam

Hey Fancy Fans! It's Amy here, again. Today, I'm sharing a little technique from my layout above, using craft foam (those spongey sheets of foam you can find at most crafts stores) and our The Good Life stamps! Take a look!

 

Here are a couple more detail shots, so you can get a closer look at what the different stamps with different textures look like. Fun, huh?

This technique would also be fun to use for accents on cards, tags, or I could even see these little round accents hot-glued to some hair clips for a little girl.... Hmmm, I may need to get on that one for stocking stuffers for my girls. :-)

I hope you enjoyed the technique. If you try it out for yourself, please share it on the Fancy Pants Designs Facebook page. I'd love to see what you create!

-Amy Peterman

 

Fancy This: The Good Life Layout

Hello everyone! Just me stopping by with a cute layout using THE GOOD LIFE line!  I love the vibrant colors and all the patterns!  I hope you like what I've come up with!

Fancy Pants Designs supplies:
The Good Life: Patterned Papers (Sweet, Fun, Laughter, That Way, Tokens, Labeled, All Good, Live)
The Good Life: Sticker Fundamentals

Other supplies:
Cuttlebug
Sizzix "decorative flourishes" set
decorative stitch stamp
black ink

Instructions:
1. I chose the SWEET paper as my background (mainly because I love the crackled wood look!)  From there, I chose 5 other patterns for my mock quilt element, (Labeled, All Good, That Way, and Fun). I cut them into strips and pieced them together onto a scrap piece of paper, and then stamped my decorative "stitches". I inked all edges and adhered them together on my background.




2. Next, using the LAUGHTER paper, I fussy cut a bunch of flowers, even using the end pieces (waste not, want not!) Again, I inked the edges in black (I don't think I know how NOT to ink!)


3. Then I took the 3 phrase stickers and stuck them on some small scraps and made little flags out of them, again inking the edges. I also cut THE GOOD LIFE off of the LABELED paper, and matted it on the black side of FUN. (psst... I inked the edges)


4. I knew I wanted some little flourishes, so I cut some on my Cuttlebug using the FUN, LIVE and TOKENS paper. Again, (you guessed it...) I inked the edges!


5. Once the decorative elements were complete, I matted my 5 x 7 picture of my husband and I at the Grand Tetons this summer with the solid black side of FUN and the crackled red side of TOKENS. I inked the edges, and added a sticker element tab with the date 2012 on the side.


6. Now that I had all the elements together, it was time to start laying it all out. It took a few tries with the flowers, but I finally came up with this arrangement, using pop dots to raise some of them for depth. Then, I added the flourishes, the phrase stickers and a few buttons.

 
7. You could add a few 'real' stitches in places to your layout as well. I wanted to, but since my whole house is in flux because of new carpeting getting put in, Valerie couldn't find her thread or her needles... I fully intend on adding them once they turn up!!! I hope you have enjoyed this little project!  Happy Scrapping everyone!


-Valerie Sanchez

Scrapbook & Cards Today + Fancy Friday Freebie!

Hey Fancy Fans! We've got some fun things to share with you today!

First off, Scrapbook & Cards Today is celebrating the release of their brand new, redesigned Fall issue TODAY! 

Fancy Pants Designs is so excited to be featured in this issue! Here's a peek at a couple Fancy Pants Designs items you'll see inside...

We'd love for you to get your hands on a copy of this issue. So, Scrapbook & Cards Today is going to give a copy to one of our Fancy Fans!! Just leave a comment on this post and we'll chose one winner randomly to get this issue sent to you FREE! You have until Sunday, September 23, 2012, at midnight (12:00 am MDT), to enter. Winners will be drawn by a random number generator and posted here on our blog Tuesday, September 25, 2012. Also, be sure to check out the Scrapbook & Cards Today website where you can download and view the entire issue!

Another fun thing we wanted to share today, because it Friday .. and that means...

Today's Fancy Friday Freebie is available for download now! Click here for this FREE download!

Enjoy and have a great weekend!!!

-Amy Peterman

Sketch Time Inspiration!

Happy Thursday everyone! Have you heard about our monthly Sketch Challenge yet? The sketch above is our September sketch and we'd love to have you join us in the challenge! Check out this post for the details on how you can have the chance to win some Fancy goodies when you create a project based on this sketch. (Psst! The challenge ends Sept.26, so you still have time!)

Our Pockets Chicks have taken the challenge and they're sharing their projects here today to give you some inspiration! Take a look!

Happy by Pamela Young
Pamela says, "I added a bit more embellishments to the sketch, but other than that I followed it pretty closely. I LOVE this fun collection (The Good Life). I combined it with the awesome white corrugated cardstock and it made the color on the papers just pop! Another product I just LOVE are the new Artist Edition Stencil Cards, they are a great addition to any page!"

Be Happy by Piradee Talvanna
Piradee says, "I love the sketch that Jodi provided, the possibilities to create with it is just endless. And for my layout I wanted to create a balance between the white space and being able to incorporate all the different elements. Using the Summer Soul collection, I first started cutting various pattern papers for the center piece and also created a fun confetti envelop in the middle. Then using the rub-ons, I added the faux stitching to the sides and cut out the flower to be used as an embellishment. Then finally, using my silhouette machine I cut the title for the layout with one of the pattern papers; to complete the layout. Be Happy!"

Introducing... by Jess Mutty
Jess says, "I immediately knew when I saw this sketch that it would be perfect for a page featuring my baby girl's birth announcement. The design is simple and keeps the focus on the photo area. My 5x7 card was already a collage and it had plenty of detail so I didn't want to overwhelm the page with lots of embellishments. And it was super excellent that the Hopscotch line perfectly matched my announcement colors!"

Home by Vicki Chrisman
Vicki says, "I love the Country Boutique line and thought that I would choose papers from the line that were monocromatic in color. I like how the subtle colors and patterns are so beatutiful, but still keep the focus on the photo."

Are you inspired? We hope you are! And we can't wait to see what you come up with using this sketch! Don't forget to post to our Facebook page and specify that your project is for the September Sketch Challenge. See you soon!

-Amy Peterman

Guest Designer: Shanna Noel

Hiya!! My name is Shanna Noel and I am so thankful to be here as the guest for September! What a fun gig! I live in Sonoma County California with my sweet husband and our two little ladies. We have finally moved back home near family after 13 years moving all over the United States! I never thought I would be so happy to be home!

I started paper scrapbooking in June of 2011 and instantly fell in love. I come from a digital scrapbooking background and I loved that with paper my kids could play along too! And boy do they ever! They love making little mini books to doodle in, etc.

It it always a lot of fun when you are sent a box of goodies to create with. It is like a little challenge, so much fun! I was actually sent the Little Sport collection, since we don't watch sports and only participate in the swim team, this really was a challenge. But you know what? Fancy Pants has some AMAZING B sides! My box was also full of CHEVRON! Hello, chevron!

It was my mother-in-law's birthday, and some of her favorite colors are red, black and teal so this collection could not be more perfect! My mother-in-law is also a paper crafter (cards mostly) so I simply attatched the Tape Sticker sheet, from The Good Life collection, to the back side of the card front (behind the die-cut title) with a bit of the Tape Stickers. This way she could pull off the stickers and use them again!



My love for chevrons is going strong. Strong enough in fact that in our new house I painted the floors a NICE & BIG chevron. I know I am crazy. But to tell you the truth? I could NOT LOVE IT MORE!!!! I love all the chevrons that were included in my Fancy Pants Designs paper!


Do you ever look at your children and wonder where your baby went? That's what happened this morning, oh my she is getting big!  I loved this yellow paper with the graphic arrows on it (from The Good Life collection)! To really make it pop I cut a couple out and added some of the Tape Stickers behind it to bring some detail.

Fancy Pants Designs has some amazing lines coming out! I can't wait to see what you all do with them!! Thank you so much for having me this month! I had a lot of fun! xox-

-Shanna Noel

Headbands and Happiness {organization}

Hello Fancy Pants Designs Friends! I have really been missing out on a lot of the fun that happens here with our amazing design team so I really wanted to find a way to keep myself in the creating loop! The only way to do that was to commit myself to a weekly post! So, looks like you will get to see a lot more of me ... every Wednesday to be exact!  {Unless I miss a week here and there—I've been known to do that ;P, but I'm hoping that won't be the case!} Anyway, I don't have any fabulous title or theme in mind for my posts, I'm just going to be throwing out some fun and random things and ideas that come to me after scrapping for so many year ... I'll be pulling out some old pages, old Fancy Pants Designs product even, along with the fun and the new and just sharing my own thoughts and ideas that I'm doing for my own creative needs and hopefully they'll inspire you to try something new :)!

For my first 'official' post, I wanted to share a fun little idea I found on Pinterest!  **Disclaimer :): I can't find the original link—it just takes me back to google, but I wanted to post the image here to share the cute concept I built my own out of!  {I didn't add the little stand to mine as it was going into a drawer, but I think the stand is super cute for on the counter viewing!}

So it started one morning when I was trying to find all the odds and ends needed to do my girls' hair for school this year. We hadn't been doing hair much over the summer, so the chaos of getting back to school made me realize I needed to organize a bit! Anyway, I had seen this image on pinterest a while back, pinned it to my board and went on my way ... but, it was definitely stuck in my mind as I made sure to save our next oatmeal canister to serve it's purpose :)!


Rather than paint the oatmeal box, I opted for covering it with paper—I used our new The Good Life collection items! You can see the fun patterns peeking through the headbands which adds a little creative touch!

Next, I added some mini ball trim around the top edge for some cute detail ... then, I decorated the lid topper of it with some fun little accents and words from our awesome new Sticker Fundamentals sets! I love the mini letters and the diction words ... they make it simple and fun for small things! It was just a few little words to remind my girls why we get up and do our hair every morning ... even if we don't want to :)!


And, for the inside, we're storing our fabric and sporty type headbands that can fold up ... so, this awesome little piece serves two headband holding purposes!  Plus, I whipped it up in less than an hour and my bathroom drawer is thanking me for that time :) ... so is my sanity! I hope you enjoyed this project and just maybe got your creative juices flowing with all that you can do with leftover "stuff" at the house! See you next week!


-Jodi Sanford

Fancy This: Locker Mirror & Magnets

Back to school time is just around the corner! We are busy getting ready around our house—getting school supplies and uniforms purchased, getting forms filled out and returned, and fitting in just a few more summer activities before that first day back. One thing I checked off my to-do list, is a little gift to my soon-to-be third grader. She gets a locker this year and is SO excited about it! So, I just had to give her a couple essentials that every locker needs—a mirror and magnets! These are super easy to make! Here's what you'll need and how to make them!

Fancy Pants Designs Supplies:
The Good Life: Happy patterned paper
The Good Life: Laughter patterned paper
The Good Life: Enjoy patterned paper
The Good Life: Chipboard Frames
Artist Edition: Trim (black)
Artist Edition: Chipboard Alphas (black)
various buttons, brads and ribbon

Other supplies:
locker mirror or small mirror + magnets to glue to back
hot glue gun
foam adhesive
sewing machine
clip magnets

Mirror instructions:
Trim Happy paper into strips, approx. 1.5 x 12 inches each. Create ruffles by folding pleats and stitching with a sewing machine (if you don't have a sewing machine, you could get this same effect using a strong adhesive).


Once ruffles are complete (I made several, but did not use all of them), gather a chipboard frame, trim  and any other pieces you want to decorate your mirror with.


Hot glue ruffles around frame of mirror. NOTE: Remove mirror or leave protective film on your mirror until you are finished with all of your hot gluing. I learned this the hard way and got hot glue on my mirror and wasn't able to get it off. :-( So, off to Target I went to get another mirror!
To ease ruffles around the corners, make several small cuts on the inside edge of the ruffle.




Adhere Artist Edition trim to back of red chipboard frame. Use the same technique as above to ease the trim around the corners.


Adhere chipboard frame and other elements as desired. I created an embellishment with flowers cut from the Laughter patterned paper and layered them with foam adhesive, ribbons and a brad.



Magnet instructions:
Adhere chipboard pieces, buttons and brads to various magnets with hot glue. EASY PEASY!


I hope you enjoyed these Back To School ideas today! Got any cool ideas to celebrate the school season? Please post them on the Fancy Pants Designs Facebook Page, I'd love to see them! Happy Back To School!

-Amy Peterman

Pocket Chick Spotlight: Amy Peterman + Giveaway!

Hi everyone! Amy here again! It's my turn for the Pocket Chick Spotlight and I am so excited to share a little bit about myself with you today! Before I answer the questionaire, I wanted to share this layout with you. When I'm not scrapbooking, you can most likely find me running or biking. It's become one of my passions and something I am grateful to have in my life. Like scrapbooking, running and biking is therapy for me and I wanted to document where I am right now in my Run Bike Life with photos taken by my eight-year-old and journaling of my goals met and future goals. I used papers and chipboard from The Good Life collection (my current Fancy Pants Designs fave!), along with papers from the Artist Edition Memo Notebook (I love that Memo Notebook and use it all the time!).

Q: What is your favorite technique?
A: Currently, I love using my die-cutting machine. I love using the negative and positive shapes from the die-cut papers and layering them with foam adhesive.

Q: How long have you been scrapbooking?
A: It's seems like forever. I have some of those really old newsprint scrapbooks (cringe!) from back in middle school. If it was a momento of any kind and could be flattened to fit in a scrapbook, I kept it!

Q: What are some goals you have for yourself, scrap-related or personal?
A: Well, you've probably read my journaling above already ... a personal goal of mine ... I want to run a marathon. It will have to be when both of my kids are in school all day, because the training is so time consuming. So, I'm thinking ... a marathon before I turn 40. :-) And no, I'm not telling you how far away that is! :-)

Q: If someone was to walk into your scrap room/area right now, what would they find?
A: A clean room! I'm serious!! It doesn't happen very often, but right this very moment, it is clean. Maybe I should get a picture! :-)

Q: What do you listen to or watch while scrapbooking?
A: A mix on my iPod. Toby Mac, old 80s tunes, Genesis, Chris Tomlin, Owl City, Phil Collins, The Beatles—to name a few.

Q: What time of day do you usually scrapbook and where?
A: During the day, in between dropping off and picking up kids from school or during "quiet time".

Q: What are some other hobbies you enjoy?
A: Knitting! I'm currently working on a cute short-sleeved, cabled hoodie. Hoping to get it done in time for fall.

Thanks for stopping by today! I loved sharing with you...

Oh wait! I promised you another giveaway, didn't I? All of us Fancy Pants Designs are so geeked about reaching 12K "likes" on our Facebook Page, that we just need to giveaway a little more. So, here's a little trivia question about me...

What type of dogs does my family own?

Leave a comment on this post and I'll choose one winner randomly from all correct answers, to win a Fancy Pants Designs collection pack and a 1-yr subscription to Scrapbook & Cards Today!

You have until Sunday, July 29, 2012, at midnight (12:00 am MDT), to enter. Winners will be drawn from all correct answers by a random number generator and posted here on our blog on Monday, July 30, 2012. Sorry, this giveaway is open to US and Canada residents only.

Come back again tomorrow for one more chance to win!!

-Amy Peterman